I'm crabby about cancer! My blog is the story of my participation in events for Team in Training to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
As a Hodgkin's lymphoma survivor from 2002, I want to give something back to show the gratitude that I have for surviving this disease. I completed my sixth Team in Training event in October 2013, and in September 2011, I walked 60 miles to raise money for breast cancer research! I'm living strong!

Friday, October 23, 2009

First Connection

One of the things I do as a volunteer for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is First Connection. We are in a national database for LLS, and when someone newly, or even not so newly, diagnosed with a blood cancer calls LLS and wants a First Connection contact, one of us is contacted by LLS to give that person a call. They just want to talk with someone who has been through it, who has had to face down that beast that we call cancer. And as a survivor, it feels great to chat with someone and maybe help lesson their fear at bit.

So tonight I was asked to call a man with Hodgkin lymphoma. He is in a state far away, and is almost done with his treatment. For privacy purposes, I will call him “Joe.” This is the first time in perhaps a year that I have been asked to call someone. Talking to Joe, and hearing about some of the things that he has gone through, reminds me of how difficult it is to go through cancer. He is doing pretty good, and just got back to work. Like me, he suffered lung damage during chemo, although it sounds like his might be more permanent. Unlike me, he never lost his hair or got really nauseous from the chemo, although he said he got very tired. He said “I guess I am not really a cancer survivor yet.” I told him that he sure was, and that you are a survivor from that first diagnosis. It was nice to talk with him, and I think he appreciated the call.

I’ve probably called about 7 or 8 people now as a volunteer over the past few years. Some of them were doing great, others were in a terrible position – no health insurance, too sick to work and no disability insurance. Some were very upbeat, others much more discouraged. Some had great support from family and friends, others had virtually none. I got in contact with one man the night before his first chemo, and at the end he told me something that made me feel great, and that I have always remembered. He told me that he had been terrified about the next day, but after we talked he felt calm, and that his fear was gone. He said that he just needed to go in there and do the treatment, but that it would all turn out in the end. Another man I called wasn’t home, so I identified myself as an LLS volunteer to his wife, and she was desperate to talk to someone who had been through this. We talked for a good half hour, and she was so fearful about what her husband was about to go through.

Bottom line – this is a really good program that LLS provides, and it helps people out, if they request the call, at a really tough time. Because I can tell you from personal experience that when you hear those words from the doctor – “You have cancer” – it is like getting kicked in the gut. You wonder how long you will live. You worry about losing your job. You worry about leaving loved ones behind. You have hundreds of thoughts racing through your head all at the same instant, and you can hear the doctor talking but you can’t really understand for a few seconds. If from my experience seven years ago, I can help someone out now, to make the road even a little less fearful, then I am glad that I have the opportunity to do so.

So if you, or someone you know, are diagnosed with a blood cancer, contact LLS and ask for information, and for a First Connection volunteer. We are there to help you.

2 comments:

Hi Art...that is just such a fantastic thing to do. Like all illnesses unless you have experienced it, it is very hard to understand.As I told you in a past comment my husband had cancer......and won the battle.....watching and supporting him through those years is something that will stay with me always. I felt honoured to take the journey with him......

Racing for a Cure and Living Strong!

About this blog

Every post prior to July 24, 2008 was written previously and posted in this blog as time allowed, starting in June. These posts describe my preparation for and participation in Team in Training for the 2008 Arizona Marathon. In addition, I've written about the May 2008 Susan G. Komen for the Cure in Richmond, Virginia. Posts from July 24 forward were written in the present, as I race to be a small part of finding a cure for the evil beast known as cancer!

Who Should our Role Models Be?

I believe that every day people doing every day things who are trying to do good in the world should be our true role models, not "sports heroes", actors and actresses, pop stars, politicians, super models, and other celebrities. Let them all do what they do best - which is athletics, acting, music, getting elected, modeling, and acting like celebrities. But unless they are a true role model, let's not pretend that they are simply because they can dunk a basketball or look great in a swim suit or win an Oscar. You and I are role models when we do something good in the world.